Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

This is a combo post since I'm a little late posting Christmas pics :). We had a terrific Christmas after a slightly traumatic Christmas Eve.

Twas the night before Christmas and...the toilets were overflowing! Seems some tree roots had invaded our sewer connections and they chose about 9 p.m. to do their diabolical deed. After unsuccessful plunging efforts and the use of every towel we own to mop up, it turned out to be something we couldn't have fixed by ourselves. Thankfully, the good employees of our city were on duty and fixed us up by about 10:30 that night...after all, usable toilets are a pretty big deal when you've got six people in the house...four of whom are kids who are OVEREXCITED about Christmas!

Anyway. Early Christmas morning, we gathered 'round our tree and opened presents as a family. It is always so exciting to see the kids' faces as they excitedly rip into the wrapping paper and exclaim over their gifts. Here are photos of E. with her basset shirt (and her basset hound)...



N. with his custom-made "puppet-tree"...



K. with her new doll...


and M. wearing his Clemson Tiger uniform...





Then, we packed the minivan and headed Back Home to celebrate with our extended families; what a blessing to celebrate with grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins! Of course, there was feasting and more gift-frenzy. It was quite a challenge to load everything into the van for the trip home the day after Christmas, but we managed...though we still haven't found "homes" for everything.

Fast forward to the present...it's New Year's Eve and my parents came to stay with us for a few days. We'll be ringing in the New Year with our usual Finger Food Supper--we all troop to the grocery store and pick out our favorite (and oh-so-healthy...NOT) frozen foods and serve them all in the same meal: chicken nuggets, mozzarella sticks, etc. This is to make sure we all get our recommended daily allowance of trans-fats and triglycerides before the end of the year :).

Tomorrow begins a new year and a new decade. I'll pull out the 2010 calendar that I got for Christmas and begin transferring birthdays and anniversaries to it and mulling over what surprises might be in store for us with the coming year. God is in control over 2010 and that's a comfort to me in these uncertain times. I pray that I'll be more like Him in the coming year than in the past year!

Later Days!
Kelly

P.S. You might recognize these friends from our recent trip to India. They were very gracious hosts to us and it was great to have them over to our house while they are visiting the U.S.!

Let the festivities begin....

First, I'd like to wish my wonderful parents, otherwise known as Mimi and Papa, a very Happy 46th Anniversary!
You're an inspiration to those of us who are still newlyweds (at 19 years of marriage and counting)! LOL
Just close your eyes and imagine some virtual chocolate-covered cherries coming your way.

Next, I'd like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas! Let's not forget that the true reason for this celebration is the birth of Jesus Christ. I hope everyone reading this has a blessed time with their family.

Later Days!
Kelly

Vacancy?

This photo was taken some hours after the photos accompanying the previous post. M. has created more lodging around the stable with Lincoln Logs. Also, the presence of the bus leads me to believe that it has become some sort of tourist attraction....



Later Days!
Kelly

A New Nativity

Have you seen the Fisher Price Nativity sets? They're adorable and I've wanted one for several years...Mimi gave us an early Christmas present :). With so many "don't touch" decorations and nativity sets around the house, it's fun to have a nativity set we can actually encourage the kids to play with! Well, it turns out that, not only can the story of Christ's birth be recounted with this set, the addition of other small figures (i.e. dinosaurs, Blue, cars) can make for some pretty interesting stories!

Happy Birthday, Mimi!!!

Today is my mother's birthday and my whole family is sending out a warm internet hug to the best Mimi in the world!! Her years of wrangling 2 silly, stubborn children have translated into terrific skills at wrangling 6 silly, stubborn, beautiful, smart grandchildren (who, incidentally, are the best kids in the world. Right, Mimi?).



I hope you have a terrific day! We love you and we'll be home to see you soon :).

Later Days!
Kelly

p.s. I hope the Best Nana in the world has a wonderful Open House today!! We love you!

Kid Funny....

I took my kids to the library yesterday--I know, it was a day late but let me explain. We were back home celebrating N's birthday on Tuesday when I would normally take the kids and when we got back home it was too late to go to the library. ANYWAY, My socially-adept 3yo began talking with a 3yo girl that he met at the coloring table. He asked her name (which was a cute, non-gender-specific,yuppie kind of name) and then told her his (for an illusion of internet privacy, please humor me if I don't post his full name):

"My name is M. B. A. My nickname is Cueball."

For the record, we DO NOT call him Cueball. Or rather, not since our beach trip, where he loved to sit on the pool table in the condo and roll balls into the pockets. Do you think he was trying to impress his new acquaintance?

Later Days!
Kelly

Happy Anniversary!

Nineteen years ago today, Hubby and I embarked on the adventure of a lifetime :). God has blessed us with a very happy marriage and four wonderful children. If we had been able to see into the future to ourselves at 40 years old, we would have been amazed, amused, and probably frightened! It's been wonderful, though, and I'd do it all over again!

Happy Anniversary to the Love o' My Life!!

Later Days!
Kelly

Birthday Boy!!

This post goes out to my friend Leanne W. who has no other way to keep up with my exciting life :):

Yesterday, Dec. 14th, was my elder son's 13th birthday! His only requests...that we celebrate back in our hometown with the grandparents and that we have our special green punch at his party. Mission accomplished! Of course, he got a few gifts too. He is a devoted puppeteer, so many of his gifts were new puppets for his collection. He's currently working on a script for a retelling of A Christmas Carol, so we're looking forward to seeing his performance. Not to brag, but he is gifted at storytelling and using different voices and accents for characters, so his puppet shows are always hilarious. Perhaps God will use these particular interests and abilities for ministry!

We partied at the fellowship hall of my parents' church with all four grandparents, uncles, aunts, and cousins We feasted on a taco bar, birthday cake, and, of course, punch. N. requested Dr. Doofenshmirtz from the cartoon, "Phineas and Ferb" for his cake and birthday flag, so I included pics of those. I've included a pic of my brother with N's new basset hound puppet--a puppet that gave our basset hound, Annie, quite a fright! Who knew she could move so quickly?!?

We are so grateful for our son & the blessing that he is to us and others! Happy Birthday, N.!

Later Days!
Kelly